Factsheet No. 9, 2024 – HEALTH SYSTEMS WBGU
Factsheet 9 Harnessing the transformative potential of health systems
Health systems have the potential to promote healthy and sustainable lifestyles and living conditions. At the same time, they must meet new challenges posed by environmental changes such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. This is shown by the WBGU in the report ‘Healthy living on a healthy planet’. It is crucial to fully acknowledge the importance of healthy ecosystems for human health. Environmentally sensitive prevention and health promotion can be transformative levers for sustainability. Environmental resilience requires continuous adaptation as well as preparation for environmental health crises. Therefore, strong public health departments are necessary. In addition, sustainability can be improved in health systems themselves – without compromising healthcare provision but offering additional benefits for health. The growing health risks from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as the global increase in unhealthy lifestyles, are affecting all areas of healthcare. Furthermore, global environmental changes are reinforcing social and health inequities. Shocks and crises (e.g. pandemics, heat waves, conflicts) will occur even more frequently in the future, which can push health systems to the limits of their capacity – and even to the point of collapse. And the time available for recovery between shocks is becoming shorter. Furthermore, as a result of their resource consumption and emissions, health systems themselves also contribute to environmental changes that are harmful to health. Health systems are thus challenged by environmental changes in three ways: they are structurally affected (e.g. by the destruction of infrastructure as a result of extreme weather events); they are experiencing a growing workload caused by an
Environmentally sensitive prevention and health promotion
increased environmental burden of disease; and they are themselves in need of systemic transformations towards sustainability, without compromising healthcare provision. Many health systems around the world are as yet unable to meet the new challenges because they focus too much only on treating diseases and are insufficiently prepared for environmental changes. Efficient and stable health systems are needed in order to safeguard health as a human right and to enable people to live in dignity and prosperity. The further development of health systems is therefore essential; it also has the potential to generate transformative leverage effects in other fields of action. Key guiding principles for the further development of health systems are environmentally sensitive prevention and health promotion, strengthening adaptation and environmental resilience, and transformations towards sustainability.
Strengthening adaptation and environmental resilience
Transformations towards sustainability